English

Popular summary

Moss bugs

The family Peloridiidae or moss bugs are primitive members of the insect order Hemiptera. These “living fossils”, as they are often called, belong to the surborder Coleorrhyncha and live in the wet moss of temperate and subantarctic rainforests.

Peloridiids occur in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and eastern Australia, including Tasmania and Lord Howe Island, and are known from 17 genera and 36 species.

New Zealand can be regarded as a biodiversity ‘hotspot’ for these insects. The three genera and 13 New Zealand species are endemic, meaning they do not occur anywhere else. New Zealand has the most diversified fauna at the species level, with 36% of all world species in this group of special significance for the Southern Hemisphere, with evolutionary roots dating back to the break-up of Gondwana.

Moss bugs are strange-looking insects, generally ranging from 2 to 4 mm in length. Their body is flattened, broadly shaped, and cryptically coloured so that it blends with the surrounding environment. Their head is peculiar in that the eyes are widely separated, prominent at the sides, and petiolate (positioned on short stalks). The surface of their anterior or top wings is hardened and bears a network of veins and variously shaped areolae or closed cells.
All New Zealand species lack posterior wings and are flightless. They probably spend most of their life in the wet moss on which they feed, moving very little. It is thought that if environmental conditions become drier, peloridiids move deeper into the moss layers in search of moisture and remain there until it is again suitably wet nearer to the surface.

Little is known about the biology and behaviour of New Zealand moss bugs. The life-cycle of these insects includes the egg stage, five nymphal stages, and the adult stage: once the egg has matured it develops into a nymph that feeds and grows through five stages before it finally becomes an adult.

The adult stage occurs mostly from December to March. Newly emerged adults – more soft-bodied and lightly coloured than mature adults – are active in January (North Island) or February (South Island). Nymphs of various stages are often found with adults, from November to December (North Island) or from January to February (South Island). Field surveys conducted during the New Zealand winter (June to September) have yielded only a few mature adults; no newly emerged adults or nymphs have been found in that season. This suggests moss bugs spend the winter in the adult and/or the egg stage.

The geographical distribution of most New Zealand peloridiid species was poorly documented before this study. We now have a better understanding of distribution patterns, but more collecting is needed in under-surveyed areas such as Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, eastern parts of the South Island, the Chatham Islands, and Stewart Island.

The genera Xenophyes and Oiophysa occur on the North and South Islands, while the genus Xenophysella is shared between the South Island and Stewart Island, where the genus Oiophysa also occurs. Of the two main islands of New Zealand, the South Island has the greatest number of genera (3) and species (10 or 77% of the fauna) although not all species are restricted to that island. Two moss bug species are shared between the North and South Islands, eight (8) species are restricted to the South Island, and two species to Stewart Island.

This handbook was written for a wide audience, with easy-to-follow identification keys and several illustrations and maps. It is hoped it will generate interest for this fascinating group of insects.

Māori

Māori summary — He Whakarāpopototanga

Ngā ngārara pukohu

Ko te whānau Peloridiidae, he ngārara pukohu, he huānga onamata no te putoi pepeke Hemiptera. No te putoi iti Coleorrhyncha enei “mātātoka mataora”, ā, ko te pukohu hauku o ngā ngahere ua to rātou kāinga, i etahi whenua āhua mahana, me etahi kei Te Moana-Tāpokopoko-a-Tāwhaki.

He peloridiid kei Hiri, kei Āketina, kei Aotearoa, kei Kanaki, kei te taha rāwhiti o Ahitereiria, tae atu ki Tahimania me te Moutere o Lord Howe. E 36 ngā momo e mohiotia ana, no roto i ngā puninga tekau mā whitu.

He tino puna mataora a Aotearoa mo enei ngārara. Ko ngā puninga e toru me ngā momo 13 kei Aotearoa, no konei anake, kāore e kitea ana i wāhi ke o te ao. Huri i te ao, kāore he wāhi i tua atu i Aotearoa mo te huhua o ngā momo; ko tetahi 36% o ngā momo katoa o te ao whānui, kei tenei ropu. Waihoki, ko ngā momo katoa o te ao, kei te Tuakoi Tonga o te Ao, ā, ko o rātou kāwai kunenga mai, no te mawehetanga o Te Uri Māroa.

He hanga rereke te ngārara pukohu ki te titiro atu. E 2 ki te 4 mm te roa, he papatahi, he whānui te tinana. He matahunahuna ano, e kore ai ia e tere kitea i tona taiao. He āhua rereke te upoko, i te mea e noho tawhiti ana tetahi karu i tetahi, kei te noho mai ano ki etahi kakau poto, ā, e āhua toro whakawaho ana. He māro te mata o ngā parirau o runga, ā, he kapi katoa i te iaia, me ona ano putau kati hanga rau.

Kāore ngā momo o Aotearoa e whai parirau o muri, ka mutu he rerekore. E whakapaetia ana ka noho noa iho ki ngā pukohu hauku, me uaua ka neke. Ko te whakaaro, ki te maroke ake tona taiao, ka hohonu ke atu te kuhu atu a te peloridiid i ngā paparanga o te pukohu ki te kimi hauku mona, ā, ka noho tonu atu ki reira kia hauku haere ano ngā paparanga e tata ake ana ki te mata.

He iti te mohio ki te koiora me ngā whanonga a ngā ngārara pukohu o Aotearoa. Heoi ano, timata mai ana i te hua, ā, e rima ngā tuātupu torongu me te kai haere tonu, te tupu haere tonu, kātahi ano ka huri hei kātua.

Kitea ai te tuātupu kātua mai i Hakihea ki Poututerangi. Ko ngā kātua hou — he ngohe ake, he teatea ake te tae o enei i ngā kātua pakari tonu — ka oreore i te Kohitātea (i Te Ika-a-Māui) i Huitanguru rānei (i Te Waka-a-Māui). He wā ano kitea ai ngā torongu (o ngā tuātupu maha) e noho tahi ana ki ngā kātua, mai i te Whiringa-ā-rangi ki te Hakihea (i Te Ika-a-Māui) mai i te Kohitātea rānei ki Huitanguru (i Te Waka-a-Māui). I ngā mahi rangahau kua kawea i te takurua i Aotearoa (mai i te Pipiri ki te Mahuru), he torutoru noa ngā kātua pakari kua kitea; kāore he kātua hou, kāore rānei he torongu. E tohu ana tenei ko ngā tuātipu takurua o te ngārara pukohu, ko te kātua pakari, tae atu ano pea ki te hua.

I mua atu i tenei rangahautanga, he iti noa ngā tuhinga mo te titaringa o te nuinga o ngā momo peloridiid o Aotearoa ki te mata o te whenua. Kua mārama ake iāianā ngā tauira titari o tā rātou noho titari ki te whenua, engari me kaha ake ngā mahi kohikohi i ngā wāhi kāore ano kia tino rangahautia, perā i Te Tai Tokerau, i Te Tara-o-Te-Ika, i te taha rāwhiti o Te Waipounamu, i Rekohu, me Rakiura.

Ko ngā puninga Xenophyes me Oiophysa, kei Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Waka-a-Māui. Ko Xenophysella, kei Te Waka-a-Māui me Rakiura, ā, kei Rakiura ano a Oiophysa. He maha ake ngā puninga i Te Waka-a-Māui (inā hoki e 3 kei reira), tenā i Te Ika-a-Māui, ā, he maha ake ano hoki ngā momo i reira (10 ngā momo, ko tetahi 77% tenei o ngā momo katoa). Engari ehara i te mea katoa ngā momo i Te Waipounamu, kei reira anake. E rua ngā momo ngārara pukohu kei Te Ika me Te Waka, e waru kei Te Waka-a-Māui anake, e rua kei Rakiura anake.

He mea tuhi tenei pukapuka whakamohio mā te iwi nui tonu. He ara tautohu māmā kei roto, he whakaahua huhua, he mahere whenua ano. Ko te wawata, kia kori ake ngā hinengaro o ngāi tātou, te tangata, ki te ketuketu, ki te whāwhā i tenei karangatanga ngārara koroke.

Translated by: Hēni Jacob, Ōtaki